On Thursday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins will provide details about how the county plans to help shelter 2,000 unaccompanied migrant children by the end of the month. Texas Gov. Rick Perry will also address the border crisis as he testifies before a congressional committee. (Published Thursday, July 3, 2014)

Dallas County leaders announced details of a plan Thursday to temporarily house about 2,000 children who crossed the border illegally without their parents.

On Wednesday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and state Sen. Royce West traveled to McAllen for a first-hand view of the unfolding immigration crisis.

Some 52,000 unaccompanied children have arrived in the U.S. since October, and facilities are overwhelmed.

"This is an American problem, it's a Texas problem, and we have the capabilities to help them," Jenkins said. "And we are going to help."

Jenkins said the children would arrive in Dallas County by the end of the month, and plans about where they would go were being finalized and would be announced on Thursday.

"It's a crisis," said Ofelia de los Santos, a retired attorney who now volunteers for Catholic Charities. "It's an emergency. It is what it is and we need help."

She said the church has become a revolving door for immigrants arrested by the Border Patrol who have family members or others in the United States to sponsor them while deportation proceedings take place.

When they arrive, they receive clothes and supplies donated by the community.

"We gather all the volunteers together and we clap and we say, 'Bienvenidos, welcome, you're safe. We are going to give you food and a shower.' And they just break down crying," de los Santos said.

In California, efforts to find migrants temporary homes have met with controversy. Protesters have shouted at buses loaded with the immigrants.

But Jenkins dismissed the critics and said his aim is to help the children.

"Regardless of what you think about immigration, regardless of what you think about politics, these are children," he said. "And in Texas, we take care of children. And we have the capabilities in Dallas to take care of children. We're going to partner with the federal government and take care of them."